Lenta Discesa
by JumpingShips
Summary: An introspective look from Taz's memory of the invasion of Chronos and how she copes in the aftermath. An alternate retelling of the Starship universe, rated M for use of substances, mild violence, and adult themes. OOC and OC present.


_Entrancing was the rhythm of tribal drums beating in her chest and caressing was her mind as it became a transient confluence, making and unmaking itself in the throes of her subconsciousness. _

She willed herself to wake up as one would reluctantly will themselves to leave the caress of a loved one; heavy arms around her waist quickly turned into a heavy cloak of somnolence. Her head was aching.

The consumption of any substance besides alcohol was detrimental to Taz's pride, besides the regulatory vaccinations and whatnot from the military. So naturally, when Taz had a headache, she'd just ignore it.

She sat up in her bed in pitch black, sweat gathering in beads on her forehead. The light above the kitchen sink down the way spilled into the hallway at the very end. Hardly remembering the dream but still feeling the touch of weightlessness, Taz swung her legs over the side and stepped off the bed. She went from being too hot to suddenly chilly. Her crop top was slightly damp from perspiration but thirst overcame her need to change and she walked to the kitchen. Bare feet lightly made padded noises and white walls held silhouettes of her arms swinging.

Half-awake she fumbled a glass from one of the cabinets and watched the water from the sink climb to the top in slow motion. The parched feeling in her throat washed away as did the waking dream.

"Can't sleep?"

Taz didn't even hear someone come in. She didn't move her eyes away from the water in the half-empty glass.

"Basically. I had a weird dream."

"Yeah, it's a standard side effect. It'll get better later."

She curled one of her toes, rubbed it against the red kitchen tile.

"Get out."

"But I just got here-

-get out. Now."

The room started to shrink from the tension.

"Fine, I'll stop by tomorrow or somethin'."

"Please."

She set the glass down in the sink before planting both hands on the counter to lean on, dipping her head in thought. The room had 'expanded' and she felt relieved. She was no longer sweating and the feeling of malaise left her like dew in afternoon sun.

She imagined a pair of hands snaking around her stomach to pull her back into sliding sheets, her gasps filling the bedroom and her body writhing. Once she got back to bed she slipped off her shirt and capriciously jumped under the covers, thinking giddily and what it was like to feel his embrace. She almost forgot she had a headache when pictures of Up flashed through her mind, the heavy cloak of somnolence turning into heavy arms around her waist. She breathed a sigh of relief, her lips parting and framing a smile with perfect teeth, musing and woolgathering silly little thoughts.

* * *

><p><em>Quaking was the rhythm of war drums beating in her chest as her mind became a deluge filled with the crashing of waves, her nerves hailing for placidity as Poseidon hails the ocean from his sea-sunk kingdom.<em>

The frigate _Illiad_ shuddered under another piece of debris striking the hull, causing Taz and the platoon to regain their balance and composure before they resumed their running. Brilliant plumes of plasma sailed through the formation of ships flying towards Chronos, decimating their numbers. One of the bright, blue spheres of energy had frayed them by a margin but it ate a substantial amount of the ships armor. They were hemorrhaging a great deal of air and the star board side of the ship was charred towards the stern.

Crew members hugged the walls, making way for the barreling troops triple-timing it to the dropships. They moved as one, two even columns of sixty hardened soldiers dressed for battle, their boots stamping on the marble floor in a clamor of fervor.

"C'mon ya'll, move like you wanna kill somethin! You wanna die in space! I SAID MOVE IT!"

Taz was 1st Lieutenant and acting platoon leader. She led the pack of leathernecks to the dropships so they could enter the foray.

Their uniform was designed to be sleek and protective; metal-alloys made up the majority of the armor that could absorb the heat of laser projectiles for a short time. The torso and head was well-shielded, pauldrons with ridges, shins and boots were lightly armored and the thighs were fitted with pads to hold ammunition in. Helmets were outfitted with a motion sensor piece over the right eye, a head cam, and a talk-piece. And underneath each torso armor was a black vest filled with gelatin that could absorb the impact of an elephant gun at point black provided if it was fired dead center.

You could almost say the robots were hunting illegal game of sort, only they weren't using elephant rifles and they weren't hunting elephants.

Naval Intelligence apparently wasn't counting on the robots' having such a quantum leap in inter-phased fission. Now they had the technology to launch plasmas as large as tanks into space with deadly accuracy; a fantastic feat humans were struggling to achieve. They only expected the lasers and short-range fusion beams. The Gaussian-based defense guns were factored in and thought to be the means of fending their invasion. Perhaps they were on standby until they entered the atmosphere. The defense guns were based on the idea of accelerating a payload electromagnetically at super sonic speeds which could deal a substantial amount of damage to standard starships.

Hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with those when they reached the planet. They were relying on the fleets bombardment which would also create several windows of safety so the dropships wouldn't cluster over one destination and risk getting decimated in one fell swoop.

The platoon reached a junction and hung a sharp right, getting closer and closer with Taz at the front of the line and the platoon sergeant, Sergeant Cole in the rear, making sure nobody got left behind.

"Move it out move it out!"

The junctions had reinforced glass ceilings and Taz viewed that some of the ships were trying to use their own weapons to deflect the balls of plasma launching from the batteries down on Chronos. She glimpsed a destroyer, the _Pharaoh,_ fire a salvo of PERSEUS-Class missiles and it's fusion cannons at the approaching sphere of plasma in hopes of changing it's course or to nullify the tremendous amount of force it possessed.

Instead, the oncoming projectile practically ignored the violet ribbons of the fusion beams and the missiles exploded as soon as they touched the brim of the plasma, a spectra of blue and purple and red danced among the frame of stars as the destroyer was punctured by the energy. The plasma dissipated unto itself in the bowels of the ship in a display of color and destruction.

One of the marines couldn't help but be transfixed on the brutal sight of the ship melting under the heat and eventually breaking off into two pieces, spinning out of control. One piece was on a course away from the formation, while the other...heading towards the bulk of the wide-spread formation.

Private Dorian almost felt sick to his stomach. Coughing once and inhaling, he corrected herself. Times like these is where you needed to be at your best. Something his Sergeant taught him.

"_Something Up taught me."_

Taz didn't like the feeling of being cooped up in a ship. Something about floating around in space, the artificial gravity, the compression and decompression and the change of trajectories and every little sound echoing back to the listener. She belonged on the ground and in the fight. Real gravity and real air to breathe with a fight she knew how to win.

And right next to Up.

Gripping her rifle, she continued onward. They were close. And once they were jettisoned into space on those ships, hell truly began.

"_Up, I hope you're alright..."_

* * *

><p>"Hey, Taz."<p>

"Hey, yeah?"

"You like it here?"

"It's cool. I could get used to it."

"Good, good. Listen I got a call from the Director. He says we don't have nothin' to worry about anymore."

"Oh yeah? What he say?"

"Everything is in order. We'll be compensated for."

"Early retirement."

"If you stay though, you could make it to lieutenant commander. You would be one of the youngest and you still have a lot ahead. Not to mention the lack of opposition now, you would just be dealing with defects and small-time rebels."

Taz looked over the nightly skyline of New York, feeling her chest clench and her throat choke.

_Her heart beat a strange rhythm like a funerary dirge and her mind a detached stream of thought which strove to remember a memory, yet in this small instant she recalled nothing in particular save that she once had a memory to remember._

She took in the moment and could not hear a thing. It was an age before she spoke.

"I think I'm done with the Marines."

Life in the Armed Forces was the only way for her to be, at least the only way she knew how to really live. She found the mundane rituals of everyday normal living almost...challenging. Simple. Hollow and unrewarding with it's benign suggestiveness.

The first night she spent in a bed under a normal roof with a normal meal to eat beforehand was so irregular, eventually curling on her side like an infant and letting sleep claim her in strange solitude, knowing that in the morning she didn't have to answer to a commanding officer or direct the enlisted or slip on her military threads. Not that she wouldn't lose track of her discipline to oneself but now she was on her own.

Things were different now. To cope was to endure.

Sounds of the city carried itself across the speckled landscape. She poured a four-fingered shot out of a sixty-year old bottle of scotch, sipping on it to appreciate it's smoothness, the running liquid just another sound in the minutiae of existence. Quickly and subtly the dizziness befell her, though she anchored herself to the chair in comfort and serenity as she brought the glass to her lips for another sip.

Looking up she could see motes of green and red lights coming from passing ships in the atmosphere. They looked like toys careening on the vaulted sky. Taz pictured little strings holding them up so, and playfully imagined if they could be plucked from the firmament so she might hold the little crew in the palms of her hand and ask what beloved starry vistas they have fared on their lilliputian vessels.

Taz envisioned herself on an enchanted ship with blooming sails, like the ones that were painted on canvases or pictured in books, and wondered what it was like to weave your hand through the dust of the Eagle Nebula as new stars gave birth to themselves in the hushed empyreans.

She took in the moment and could not hear a thing.

* * *

><p>"Ma'am!"<p>

The man's face flushed red and perspiration ran down his face like rain. Taz recognized him; Ensign Morgan, whom had just transferred two days ago from the base at Tau Ceti.

"What is it!"She barked.

The ensign didn't cower or flinch from her outburst, began running with the platoon only saying: "Captain's issued the order to evacuate the ship!"

Taz's voice turned into nails and balled her fists up.

"Outta my way, Ensign!"

She shoved Morgan out of the way and sprinted down the halls as she listened to the intercom repeat the message Morgan had just given her.

"...repeat, all persons make their way to the nearest life boat or scheduled drop. This is a direct order to evacuate the ship. Re-"

The message cut off as a tremor rocked the ship. Sounds of metal clinked against the hull rung loudly. It was the debris of another ship colliding with theirs.

A herd of people came rushing down the curved hall, escorting a pair of wounded from the plasma blast earlier. One of the wounded had only minor burns on his left leg and limped his way as a Petty Officer gave him support. The other was on a stretcher...

She got a close look for a moment without imposing on their path, withholding any sort of readable reaction. The man she saw was barely a man at all. This poor soul must have been near a place where the metal had been melted near the blast and turned into white-hot fragments flying at 128,000 KPH as it tore through the walls like they were tissue paper. How he was still breathing was a miracle. A third of his body will have to be grafted with cybernetics, that is if he didn't bleed out.

Another message blared from the intercom: "Alert, enemy ships sighted! Boarding vessels en route!"

The bots must have ceased firing their planet defense batteries and were now wanting to capture any crew left crippled. Perhaps to integrate them into their own army. Taz sensed the ship would be firing it's point defense lasers at any oncoming ships very soon. Almost on queue, the voice returned to the intercom. Except this one sounded much different, a little older this one.

"Enemy boarding vessels neutralized! Return to your stations, I repeat, cancel evacuation! Return to your stations at once!"

"_I guess the Captain was being insubordinate on the bridge. Were the odds that bad? And who else was on that bridge that could've belayed the Captain's order?"_

Questions, questions.

They were real close now. The hallways widened and she could see the familiar painted coolant pipes running along the wall and then the polished floor with the a black arrow and yellow lettering that read "Docking Bay." She could see a flurry of movement through the windows and quickened her pace. Another platoon was spotted ahead of them, and soon enough more and more from behind. Crowds of marines moving together.

Once stepping through, they could feel the energy of impending battle all around them. The room was 200 meters high and 120 meters wide and long. Ahead and lined up in the center of the hangar were 24 of the Sleipner-Type, light-atmosphere heavy drop ship. They possessed a wide-wingspan and were modified to carry extra weight. Usually they would be armed with two 70mm cannons under the chin and twin Viking missile pods under each wing. Their boarding capacity was refitted to support fifty-six troops, thirty-two originally. Extra armor was welded on the underside in hopes of keeping the payload safe. Only a single rotary cannon existed now which toted an Anti-Armor Gauss Rifle to puncture any robots that would be caught in the ships way.

The hangar was filled with sound of a stampede as each marine clambered onto the open ramps of every Sleipner. The hubbub of voices echoed and there were stern and determined faces all around. Some were devoid of any emotion, trying to displace the feeling of hopelessness with an uncertain thought of dying for a greater cause. And some just had that anxious look like someone was waiting to go release some pent up anger on the battlefield.

Quickly, each were strapped in. The pilots upfront signaled the go-ahead.

"All secure. Ready for detachment."

The red lights under each drop ship turned to green one after the other. The ships sat atop of an elevator which would descend into a depressurizing compartment. Once the hangar doors above closed, attachments would emerge from the side and clamp on top of the ship while the metal arms holding the landing gear would detach themselves. A second pair of hangar doors would open into space, and from there they would be jettisoned out from the ship, letting the Sleipner's limited orbital flight carry itself into the planets gravity well.

The braces clamped and held the marines in place as the ships moved into position. The air was so heavy. Taz was ready to be out on the field.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant."

The voice was two down from her right. Sergeant Cole was holding something red.

"What is it?"

He waved it around so she could get a better look.

"You dropped this." He handed it to the next marine, who handed it down to Taz. It was her bandana. How did she drop it? It must have slipped loose from under her helmet when they were running.

"Thank you, Sergeant," She said sheepishly.

All around there were whistles and hooting. Not one person missed the transaction. Taz would've blushed if she was actually embarrassed. Well, maybe caught off-guard by the return of her sentimental bandana was a little embarrassing since she's never caught without it.

"Fuck you," she said to everyone but to no one in particular. Some laughed abruptly, some chuckled dryly. Others quickly forgot the lighthearted scene and went back into their mode. She stuffed the bandana beneath her torso armor to be tied around her head when they reached planet side.

"Alright, ya'll. You cut that mess right now. We got some serious business to take care of on Chronos."

That was the Captain Sanford. A man with a pointed nose and high-cheekbones carved from stone.

"So this it. Intel says this is the last existing robot occupied planet. We're a team, we're gonna conquer, and we're gonna get some. Make this shit count 'cuz if you hadn't had a piece of robot ass yet, this is your last chance to get laid."

"_Who the hell would have sex with a robot?" Taz wondered._

"We can't afford to bomb the planet since there are civilians held here. So we land and you make your way to the base by whatever means necessary, and you take that base out by whatever means necessary, and escort any civilian the FUCK outta there. LZ is gonna be hot as hell and hairier than a cotdamn werewolf in winter so dress yourselves real proper cuz it's gonna be nasty. HOOAH!"

From all around, a resounding :**"HOOAH!"**

* * *

><p>*knock knock knock*<p>

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

She rolled over in her bed, popping her back and trying to peer through mostly-closed eyelids. How the hell did Krayonder get in the apartment?

"_Hallucinating?"_

"The uh, the key card. You gave me a copy like three weeks ago," Krayonder explained as his head came into view from out of the blur.

Oh right.

"_Seems real enough."_

Taz lied back down, her back facing Krayonder at the door.

"Whatchu want?" She spoke to the shaded window.

He made his way around the bed in front of Taz and slowly opened the blinds to let in a little bit of light.

"Just came to see what you were up to."

"Bored."

"Yeah."

They shared a silence for a few moments. Taz slowly began to blink herself awake, lines of the light casting themselves across her face.

"Almost noon," Krayonder said. "I brought you some stuff." He lifted a plastic grocery bag weighed down with curious objects. She shifted her eyes towards the bag without moving her head and tried to guess what was in the bag, raising both her eyebrows.

"Me?"

"You."

"Mm."

Krayonder took that as a hint to go through the bag himself, and placed each object on her rather plain and polished dresser.

"Shampoo. The strawberry kind. Some really good bourbon; expensive that was. And uh, this sharpening stone. You know since you probably need to take care of your knives and stuff."

A strange collection of items.

"Thank you."

"There's more."

"Huh?"

Krayonder jabbed his thumb towards the door. "I got a tote on the kitchen counter with some food, some homemade candles from Tootsie. He also made some dried apple chips. They're really good too! You should try some," Krayonder exclaimed, a genuine smile forming on his face with each word.

"Krayonder. I got food," Taz said with a deadpan tone.

"Yeah well, you know. REAL food. Chicken strips and easy meals aren't good for you on a..." Krayonder trailed off, losing his concentration as he stared at nothing.

Taz tilted her head, finished his sentence for him. "Daily basis?"

"Yeah, yeah. Right."

She sat up finally, blanket still wrapped around her as she hugged him.

"Thanks, man."

Krayonder reciprocated, spoke quickly: "Of course. Anytime."

He stood up after they pulled apart and crumpled the empty bag trying to contain himself.

"I'll light up some candles. Lemme fix you something to eat."

Taz couldn't help herself.

"Is that right? Jou plan on doing something to me later...?" She slid one of her legs from under the cover, showing barely just above the knee as she spoke in a sultry tone.

"What? OH NO. I mean, you know!"

"Hmm?"

"Erm..."

"No? You and Specs?"

"No..."

"Well then, by all means."

"..."

She smoothly dropped her act and reverted back to her normal tone as she lifted her chin in and pouted her lips outward as if she imitated a puppy.

"Anything to eat is fine."

"'kay." And with that, Krayonder rushed out of the room. Taz was alone with her thoughts for awhile. She began to dress herself and afterward, began putting the gifts Krayonder gave her in proper places.

"That was interesting."

Taz remained motionless where she was.

"Uh huh."

"Well? You fancy him do you?"

"Shut up."

"It's fine, really. You're an adult now."

If there was a third person in the room, Taz would've heard them walk out the door. Krayonder might have glimpsed them for a moment but most certainly hear them leave. Taz waited to make sure Krayonder was a good distance away from her room, waited to hear the sounds of an occupied kitchen. Satisfied, she smoothly pulled back the single drawer of the nightstand, swiped the clear and orange-tinted bottle.

Taking two in her palm, she went and stuck her hand under the faucet for a palm full of water before downing the white and distasteful pills. She reverted back to her mode, leaving the bathroom at once and calmly noted the strawberry candle that was lit on the coffee table.

"_Thank you, Tootsie."_

The smell was delightful. Suddenly the apartment became a living thing worth appreciating. And Krayonder, he was cutting onions, she observed. A clove of garlic and fresh rosemary sprigs. A bowl full of water and chopped potatoes immersed in it. And the poultry would soon be tended to, also with rosemary. Perhaps seasoned with thyme and oh, the lemon juice to be mixed with red wine vinegar as well.

She propped her elbow on counter at the end of the hallway, opposite of the one in the kitchen. Krayonder had his back turned, mixing the lemon juice with the vinegar.

He turned around, and without missing a beat and without looking at her, said: "Yeah, I kinda went all-out. I mean it's not complicated but ya know."

She waved her hand to dismiss his blundering, and his appreciated, over-extension. "Nah, man. You're good."

Krayonder gave a lopsided smirk as he handled the rosemary.

"Heh."

"Jou thirsty?"

Shaking his head no, "I'll wait 'till after."

Taz's back straightened, and paused. Krayonder turned back around and didn't notice the sudden change in her mood and hence couldn't see the hyper-functioning of her mind that would have been readable all from her face. She tried to quell the savage beating of her heart and could not help but focus on every partial shift and twist and turn of Krayonder moving around the kitchen; sweeping the onion skin with the back of his hand, water jetting from the faucet, and his fingers grasping and letting go of each and every object.

Everything moved at a fraction of a second and once it occurred, she remembered it as a whole and thought of alternate outcomes while observing the next action and it's complementing reaction.

She was constantly painting a panoramic view of an endless cycle of events from left to right, figuratively turning to the beginning to ponder the possibilities, fancying a reconsideration of cause and effect, and then eventually appreciating the final result.

"Look, you need to fucking do something."

Her body stood up on impulse, and realized it's own needs on natural instinct. Everything in a spin, direction nonsensical. Without drawing attention from Krayonder, she hurried herself as quickly and quietly as she could to the bathroom, and vomited the contents of her stomach before passing out on the cold floor in a heap with a fleshly slap from her paling cheek. She nearly knocked over the small garbage bin filled to the brim with empty pill bottles labeled 'quetiapine,' anti-psychotics. A few of empty bottles spilled onto the floor, bouncing at first and rolling in every direction.

_"What...a mess."_

Faint was the rhythm of marimbas as her mind plucked to the voicing of strings of little toy ships tethered to astral ceilings in fading unison.


End file.
